March 20 (Bloomberg) -- Narendra Modi, the prime
ministerial candidate of India’s main opposition Bharatiya
Janata Party, will contest the nation’s general elections from
two seats in a move to reduce the chances of a surprise defeat.

Modi, 63, will run from the Vadodara constituency in
Gujarat, the state he has run since 2001, the BJP said yesterday
when presenting its sixth list of candidates. He also will be
standing in Varanasi, a Hindu stronghold in Uttar Pradesh, the
country’s most-populous state.

“The BJP cannot take any chance with its prime ministerial
candidate contesting only from a seat outside Gujarat,” said
Subrata Mukherjee, an independent political analyst in New
Delhi. “The party is making doubly sure of his win.”

Modi’s electoral fight from two constituencies will help
him to project himself as a pan-India leader and may improve the
party’s prospects in Uttar Pradesh, which sends a seventh of all
lawmakers to the lower house of the national parliament. Polls
show Modi’s party winning the most seats in the election
starting next month, while falling short of a majority.

It’s not unusual for politicians to contest more than one
seat in India. Sonia Gandhi, president of the ruling Congress
party, has contested from two seats in an election. Her late
mother-in-law, prime minister Indira Gandhi, also ran in two
constituencies.

Rahul Gandhi

Rahul Gandhi, the 43-year-old scion of India’s foremost
political dynasty, is leading the Congress campaign after Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh said he wouldn’t stand for a third term.
The Congress party has seen its popularity slump while
overseeing the slowest economic growth in a decade in the nation
of 1.2 billion people.

Modi is promoting Gujarat’s image as a magnet for
investment and a record of stronger-than-average growth since he
began running it in 2001 as a key element of his campaign.
Congress party leaders say he’s an autocrat who failed to
control deadly anti-Muslim rioting in Gujarat in 2002. He’s
denied wrongdoing. Modi has previously only won elections in
Gujarat, in western India.

Varanasi will be one of the most-watched constituencies in
the election. Arvind Kejriwal, leader of the year-old Aam Aadmi
Party, which formed a government in Delhi for a brief period
after state elections there last year, has indicated he will
contest against Modi.

Congress and other regional parties, including the
Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party, have vowed to put up
formidable candidates against Modi.

“Strategically he is fighting from Uttar Pradesh to
galvanize support there and cause a spillover effect in
adjoining areas,” Mukherjee said, referring to Modi.

Lal Krishna Advani, 86 and a senior BJP leader, will
contest from the Gandhinagar constituency in Gujarat, the party
also said today.

Voting for parliament will start in phases from April 7,
and election results will be announced on May 16.